Steamboat Arabia: A Historian’s Blog

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

COLLECTIONS:

Archives, Libraries, historical societies and other people have helped me to get a handle understanding the Arabia Steamboat Museum's collection.

I just snapped this photo of the reading room at the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester Massachusetts where I have been talking with staff about the Steamboat Arabia. And just like you, they are amazed at the collection in Kansas City and research has only scratched the surface what lessons this vast collection of artifacts taken from one sunken steamboat called Arabia can tell.

As you can see- lots is going on. There's a man on the left who is reading vintage newspapers in bound volume, others are reading books and making entries in their computers. And I hope to dive in with the rest of them to follow the paper about the world of the 1850s.

Can anyone identify the tools in this ambrotype?

I titled this posting as "Seeking Information from Fellow Bloggers." When you see this title, it means I need your insight so do email me your guesses, web links or other info.
Thank you for your help,
Elizabeth

Friday, April 26, 2013

8:44 PM

I’ve discovered bloggers who never visited the Steamboat Arabia Museum or even heard about the sidewheeler are following my blog. They know the steamboat sank, September 5th but not much more

.Above- House of Representatives William A. Richardson, of Illinois introduced a revised Bill for Organizing Nebraska Territory (HR 353) on February 2, 1853 which was revised a final time on December 14, 1853, by Senator Augustus C. Dodge of Iowa. Collection of Matthew R Isenburg.

Per Wikipedia- The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opened new lands, repealed theMissouri Compromise of 1820, and allowed settlers in those territories to determine if they would allow slavery within their boundaries. (READ MORE)

I’ve discovered bloggers who never visited the Steamboat Arabia Museum or even heard about the sidewheeler are following my blog. They know the steamboat sank, September 5th but not much more.

One hot day in the early 1990s, Greg Hawley sent me a letter with this newspaper announcement from The Daily Missouri Democrat, dated September 11, 1856. This consignee list opened a doorway and helped me eventually solve the mystery what Arabia’s last trip to the upper Missouri River was about.

ARABIA- The Officers of this boat which was lost in the Missouri last Friday, arrived yesterday on the Tatum. From them we learned that the sinking was a very sudden affair. The snag struck her forward of the boilers, pierced its way into the center of a lot of freight and lifted the deck several inches above its proper level. As soon as the boat was brought again under control, she was headed for the bank, but sank when she was about the distance of her own length from it. Two minutes only, elapsed from the striking until she sunk. Of course the alarm and confusion which always attend the like sudden disasters, prevailed here, but the fears of the passengers were allayed by the presence of mind displayed by her officers. We are glad to know that the only life lost on this unfortunate occasion was that of a mule, which would have been saved, but for own obstinacy.

Is it really a matter to be wondered at, how quickly boats which sink in the Missouri, disappear as a general thing. When the men left this boat on Sunday morning, the water had reached her hurricane deck, on the starboard side, and it is supposed she will now be entirely out of sight. The river is not rising, but the boat is sinking in the sand. The Arabia was insured for 10,500. We are indebted to Mr. James Spencer, one of the clerks, for the following statement of their freight and its destination:

Kay & Bailey 1 box merchandise St Joseph

Donnell & Saxton 8 box merchandise St Joseph

J H Cook 3 box merchandise St Joseph

Thomas Connelly 3 box merchandise St Joseph

E & Y [F] Impey & Co 227 packages Savannah

R Zimmerman & Co 1 sawmill and fixtures Browsby Landing

G W Brown 10 barrels of Whiskey Iowa Point

Mc Allister, Orace [Crane] & Co 7 packages Iowa Point

Gaines, Strickland & Co 4 packages Iowa Point

John O’knoll 2 packages St Stephens

H D Kirk 1 package St Stephens

Hawk & Dillion 1 package Hemmes Landing

Tootles & Armstrong 5 packages Linden

Smith, Brown & McAlister 9 Package Linden

Steamer Ben Bolt 1 cook stove Linden

Hall & Baker (?) Barrels Ale Nebraska City

D Seigel 11 packages Nebraska City

J Garside (?) packages Nebraska City

Tootles & Green [Greene] 30 packages Glenwood

Allen 11 packages Bellevue

Sarpy & Kippy 3 packages Bellevue

L M Peckham 1 package Bellevue

B Lovejoy 2 packages Bellevue

F M [T M] Boyer 1 package Council Bluffs

Stutsman & Donnell 55 packages Council Bluffs

Thompson & Butts 15 packages Council Bluffs

Milton Rogers 13 packages Council Bluffs

Cassady & Test 1 package Council Bluffs

Babbitt & Robinson 4 packages Council Bluffs

C Gore 2 packages Council Bluffs

Keys & Co. 54 packages Council Bluffs

J R [J E] Washington 20 packages Council Bluffs

Tootles & Jackson 106 packages Council Bluffs

Geo Doughty & Co 21 packages Council Bluffs

J Jones 22 packages Omaha

O B Smith 9 packages Omaha

Tootles & Jackson 5 packages Omaha

H W Richmond 1 package Omaha

A Sheldon 1 package Omaha

Schneider & Hardford 4 packages Omaha

W Shirids 6 packages Omaha

M Handon 28 packages Omaha

Armstrong & Clark 357 PCs Lumber Omaha

Stutesman & Donnell 202 packages Omaha

Willimson & Roach 5 packages Omaha

Keiler [Keller] 20,000 Ft Lumber Florence

Blackbird Mission 29 packages Blackbird Hill

Burnes, Roberts & Co 100 packages Sioux City

D O Shea 3 packages Sioux City

Tracy & Papin 720 packages Logan

Tracy & Papin 2 Houses Logan

J Harri 20 packages Logan

“Since reporting on yesterday the sinking of the Steamer Arabia in the Missouri River, we have learned some particulars touching insurance upon her hull and cargo. Our information is only partial and does not include the amounts of policies existing in the St Joseph Insurance Company, and in other offices in towns in that region. The following amounts are set down to offices in this city.

Welcome back to my blog. The image above is not a tintype, but a miniature of Henry Chouteau (painting on ivory) in a daguerreotype case from the St. Louis Photographic Gallery for Thomas Easterly.

I bet your perplexed why I am using the example above to make a point about the tintype of the child holding the flint lock rifle.

Often, there is question if the image was later put into a photographic case and that is why my tintype and clothing expert have different dates when this child was photographed. If you recall in my last 2 blogs, my tintype expert based her analysis on the mat was patented in 1861 and my clothing expert said the style was a passing fad in 1851-1854.

I am revisiting this topic again after receiving another email from Joan, who wrote,

Elizabeth--

That topknot hair thing really was quite a short-lived fad, and I lean more

to a closer date for the tintype than to think the hair was done that way

long after the fad had passed.

I can see 1856 - 7 at a reach--but never into the '60's

Did they never mount a tintype AFTER the fact?

Joan

I replied

Hi Joan,

Yes, Matthew wondered if the case was a later additon. The case had an 1861 mat. I see 1856-57 too....The good part is the date has narrow down to only a few years- very impressive!

Henry Chouteau (1805-1855) who was the Pacific RR Executive died [in the railroad accident at the Gasconade Bridge]- Fannie Deavers' (mother of Julia Deavers Chouteau- widow) took a trip to Paris in 1857 and had a mourning miniature dated 1855 made by Millet (famous for his haystack paintings) and once back had Thomas Easterly, a St Louis daguerreotypist [photographer] mount it in a daguerreotype case- (see below- miniature that included a note and copy of Fannie's passport dated 1857)

I couldn't believe that this was painted in France....I mean traveling to France was a very big trip and dangerous too...However, I brought this minature to a reliable source to Robin Jaffee Frank who wrote a book on minatures,

Love and Loss: American Portrait and Mourning Miniatures (Yale University Art Gallery)

I took these photographs in the lab while Robin Jaffe Frank took a closer look under the microscope. She concluded that the quality of painting was excellent, but as a representative of Yale, she could not verify if the painter was the Millet who was famous for the paintings in France but gave me the name of an expert who could.

Unlike the tintype, the miniature of Henry Chouteau had the note (ephemeral piece) that allowed me to research the image. I have found support verifying Fanny's trip to Paris, but in 1857 not 1855. Without the note, this would have been just another nice looking miniature of average looking man and thrown away years ago.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

It was my lucky day to find this 1850s trade card at the 33rd Ephemera Society's Conference. And yes, this is the company that manufactured the same rubber shoes in the Arabia Steamboat Museum. One Trade Card can tell a big story.

The Manufacturer was Ford & Co. in New Brunswick who made the shoes with Goodyear's patent- The Agent was Breeden & Brother in New York City who wholesaled the shoes- and which St Louis store sold them to the Arabia's consignee is still an unsolved mystery.

\

Photo courtesy: Greg Hawley's book, Treasure in a Cornfield.
For those fascinated by Arabia Steamboat Museum's rubber over shoe display, you may want to make another trip after reading my blog. There were many companies making Rubber Over Shoes, and not all used Goodyear's formula.

Before buying the card, I googled on my I-Phone Breeden & Brother ensuring they were at the same address and yes, they were manufacturing their shoes in Scotland. That's pretty exciting!

New York Daily Tribune Sat June 28, 1851
Notice- Buyers of FORD & CO's celebrated Metallic Rubber OVER SHOES, are informed that the recent fire at their warehouse did not destroy the buildings containing the machinery; the detention therefore will be but three or four weeks, when all will be rebuilt and in full operation.
We soliett an examination from the trade of the stock now in the store, amounting to over 200,000 pairs comprising all the various styles. Dealers may rely on having their orders promptly filled as usual.
Breeden & Brother Sole Agents
245 Pearl St. & 29 Cliff St.

AND

Christoper Meyer, Henry Lee Norris and John Ross Ford, all American citizens, formed the North British Rubber of Scotland. The machinery for the rubber over shoes was shipped to Glasgow in October 1855 and manufacturing began in Edinburgh by 1856.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Anna F. Macomber from New Bedford, Massachusetts rests an ear of corn on the table and pretends to eat a pickle. Daguerreotype: circa late 1850s - early 1860s from Collection the of Elizabeth B. Isenburg

The glass jars of pickles in the Arabia Steamboat Museum are something to see. It was a miracle they survived and visiting the museum, you can find out why.

"With the darkness closing in, we hoisted the day's final box from the cargo hold and gently set it on the main deck. When we lifted the lid, we discovered beautiful "Cathedral" bottles containing bright green pickles. Each bottle carried an oval label made of lead foil which read, "Sweet Pickles, Wells, Provost & Co. 215, 217 & 219 Front St. Wholesale Depot, New York."

Just how were sweet pickles made? For the answer I went to my library and pulled out my 1851 cookbook,Cook's Own Book and found the recipe below. Although this recipe was intended for the family cook, it was most likely the same as the mass produced jar above. Even then, people were looking for convenience.

The recipe calls for fine loaf sugar. Unlike today, when we buy granulated sugar, people then bought their sugar in cones or loafs. The recipe says to use fine loaf sugar, here's a refined white cone made of dark molasses (raw sugar cane).

I found another free google book The Chemical News and Journal of Industrial Science 1919 and although this book comments on the sugar industry in England factories in 1854, I learned sugar was made either from sugar cane or beetroot (better known as Sugar Beets that contain a large amount of sucrose). Many thanks to Wikipedia, I can show a stretch of the sugar beet and the sugar loaf.

Hello and Welcome to my blog. Since so many Civil War Reinactors visit the Arabia Steamboat Museum, I questioned: What if the Steamboat Arabia didn't hit the snag in 1856; what would have her life have been?

"If Steamboat Arabia was docked in St. Louis during the Union occupation, what might happen?"

I'd love to be a fly on the wall to hear that conversation.

When the steamer sank she was last owned by two forwarding and receiving commission merchants who remained in St. Louis, and, like all merchants, their shipping business catered to the U.S. military (sending similar goods found in the Arabia Steamboat Museum).

Just look what I found- (click on the image to see the full image)

This chart says it all and is a newly acquired pamphlet in my collection titled: REPORTS to the WAR DEPARTMENT by BREV. MAJ GEN. LEWIS B. PARSONS, CHIEF of RAIL AND RIVER TRANSPORTATION. St. Louis, Mo. George Knapp & Co., Printers and Binders 1867.

And read; "The amount of transportation furnished at St. Louis, Mo. during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1863, as per Report of Capt. Charles Parsons, A. Q. M. in charge of transportation at that post." The chart shows a comparison between trains and steamboats and steamboats transported more provisions and a third less troops than trains.

My own Great-grand father John Westly Duncan rode the side wheeler Sam Gaty north after the Battle of Shiloh.(April 6-7 1862). On his Iowa's unit trip back down the river, he had seen enough and was listed as AWOL in St. Louis. Thank heavens he did because many in his unit died from smallpox shortly after and I wouldn't be here. (This reports listed the Sam Gaty was lost to a snag in September 1863 at Island No. 62 near Vicksburg).

What would Steamboat Arabia's role had been (if she hasn't sunk) during the Civil War?

Which side would she be on- Union or Confederate?
Would she be transporting government troops, be a hospital or still in private hands?
Would she be burned to avoid being captured, sunk by enemy fire, commandeered by officers or would have survived the war?

I'd approach this, "What if," by finding a good source and I found one.

Above- In Memoriam- General Lewis Baldwin Parsons(he oversaw the western transportation in St. Louis during the Civil War.) His memoriam gives many details about St. Louis during the Civil War. Google Books has a copy on line (click on the cited book above & scroll up to page 1). Parsons had an interesting life, he lived near St. Louis where he was a lawyer and married there.

It is such a good pamphlet and when I read down the List of Boats Destroyed on the Mississippi River and its' Tributaries, I saw many steamboats that plyed the inland waterways with the Steamboat Arabia.

In conclusion, I think Steamboat Arabia would have burned by the rebels. With that in mind, isn't it nice she hit the sang and sank so the merchandise ended up being artifacts in the Arabia Steamboat Museum.

My next blog will post the List of Boats Destroyed on the Mississippi River and its' Tributaries from Capt. Charles Parsons, A. Q. M. Report. I had to be extra gentle with this because I didn't want to break the spine.

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If you are looking at this blog,you’ve already been to the Steamboat Arabia Museum or planning a visit back...
Who was waiting for these boxes? Who owned the Arabia? And what was the bigger picture doing business before the civil war? After years of research, I am finally writing up my findings. I'll be posting all forms of ephemera from my collection and others (documents, letters, journals, maps, newspapers, photographs as well as my frustrations...Your feedback is welcome.
Who knows maybe one day, this will be an American Experience Documentary!

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Contact Me ElizabethCT@gmail.com

Someone had to step up to the plate and do the serious research this collection deserves...My research relied heavily on: Harvard Business School, Library of Congress, National Archives & Records Administration, Mercantile Library, Western Pa Historical Society, Hagley Library, and other private collections, like my own.